HLF Visit to Lough Erne Landscape Partnership Projects

News: We were delighted to host representatives from our funders The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), to Fermanagh to visit some of our ongoing projects.

Access Inniskillings

Firstly the team visited the Access Inniskillings project based in the Inniskillings Museum in Enniskillen Castle Museum. Access Inniskillings is a digital archiving project promoted by the Inniskillings Museum which aims to preserve many of the museums historical documents from its paper and photographic archives prior to 1900.

The project will leave a legacy in terms of accessibility to information held by the museum for the public, genealogists, historians and families of former service personnel from the Lough Erne region who helped shape world history in the 18th and 19th century.

Accessing the Natural Heritage at Upper Lough Erne – Crom

From the Enniskillen castle the team then visited project partner, National Trust at Crom Castle. This project will increase access by creating new paths and reinstating parts of the 18th century historical routes. This will open up in total 10.5 km of additional access routes giving people access to the lough, the built heritage, ancient woodland, and stunning meadows.

The project will also create in collaboration with local schools, a natural play area in the woodland which will interpret the natural history of the area, allowing children to understand and connect with nature through play.

By visiting the project location it was clear that this project will provide visitors with fantastic

Keepers of Tradition

Having enjoyed the picturesque location of Crom Castle the team made their way to visit the Mummers Foundation. This project aims to revive the tradition of Mumming within the younger generation in the Lower and Upper Lough Erne communities that were historically known for their Mumming.

The Mummers Foundation will teach young participants about the folklore associated with Mumming and develop essential skills required to perform Mumming. These heritage skills will include, straw craft, mask making, music, song, and dance performances. It will see the revival of old rhyming and the integration of new rhymes and verses in their performances.

Lisnarick – Pathway to our Lough

The projects LELP will deliver all have different aims and objectives, however a key theme is to provide access to the Lough for local communities. Lisnarick is a small village close to the Lough and on the edge of the Castle Archdale Country Park. Currently there is no direct path from the village to the Park or Lough this project will enable this local community and visitors to access both the Park and the Lough directly and more safely.

This project aims to create an entirely new access route to the shores of the Lough through the development of a new footpath on Forestry Service land along with the upgrading of an existing path. Giving the villagers much needed pedestrian access to the Lough on the one hand, and tourists in the Castle Archdale complex access to the village on the other, this project will create an exciting prospect for both communities and will lead to improved economic and social sustainability for the area.